Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri rebuked in a statement Thursday the decision by Orlando’s top prosecutor not to pursue the death penalty for Markeith Loyd, accused of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton in January.

“This is reprehensible,” Gualtieri posted on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, “and I cannot state strongly enough how appalling this is that a police officer can be executed while on the ground and a state attorney, elected to enforce the laws of our state, refuses to do her job.”

He went on to say that he asked the Florida Sheriff’s Association to “come out strongly against this.”

Ayala said during a news conference that she made the decision after conducting a review on the effectiveness of the practice.

“What has become abundantly clear through this process is that while I do have discretion to pursue death sentences,” she said, “I have determined that doing so is not in the best interests of this community or in the best interests of justice.”

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